Now available: System Center Configuration Manager Extensions for SCAP Beta

If your organization is affected by the Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) mandate, and the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), then this new Beta program will be of interest to you. The FDCC mandate from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires federal agencies and organizations to configure their computers running Windows Vista® and Windows® XP according to a specific list of settings published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The FDCC mandate also requires these agencies and organizations to document their compliance by scanning the computers they manage using SCAP content published by NIST, and to provide the compliance results in SCAP format.

The System Center Configuration Manager Extensions for SCAP enable you to use Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 to scan computers running these operating systems that you manage for compliance with the FDCC mandate. The System Center Configuration Manager Extensions for SCAPinclude command-line tools to convert SCAP content into the format used by the Desired Configuration Management (DCM) feature in Configuration Manager 2007, and to convert DCM reports into SCAP format.

·You can participate in the Beta by visiting theBeta Program site on Microsoft Connect(Windows Live™ ID login and registration required). After you sign up, bookmark this link to the project site for access to download the Beta tools and guidance, and receive the latest information about the project.

Note: This solution has not been formally validated by NIST. Although Microsoft will submit it at a future date, at this time NIST has not yet recognized it as a SCAP validated tool with FDCC scanning capability.